


The Eye of Horus

by orphan_account



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Hospitals, I Don't Even Know, I'm trying, Metahuman Leonard Snart, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-07 01:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11048175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: THIS IS NO LONGER GETTING UPDATEDDante laughed, shaking his head. "I don't know everything,hermanito. Just most of everything.""So, nothing that has anything to do with science," Cisco giggled, leaning back against their couch.S.T.A.R. Labs was in a race with Central City Labs to create a working particle accelerator. Cisco Ramon wasn't involved at all. After all, no eight-year-old should be messing with anything of that caliber. He had nothing to with it, except for being curious about it and talking about it at home. He had nothing to do with any of it all.Apparently, that didn't stop the universe from deciding that he damn well needed to be.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liveyourtemptation](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liveyourtemptation/gifts).



> I would like to thank liveyourtemptation for giving me the inspiration to write about my personal idea of a Cisco from an alternate universe, playing on the idea about all of the Ciscos being connected and being able to communicate. Their works highly influenced my ideas, in case you couldn't tell. X'D  
> If you have not read their stories, I highly recommend it.

Central City was a battleground and the scientists were the warriors. S.T.A.R. Labs had gained a competitor in its early years in Central City, both of which racing towards the shining goal of creating a working particle accelerator. Central City Labs was ahead by years in comparison to S.T.A.R. Labs, whose founder was distrusted by the city and was not seen as any sort of smart investment. Despite their challenges, S.T.A.R. Labs refused to be counted out of the race to create a working particle accelerator. Dr. Wells seemed sure that their idea would work, despite it never having been tried out before. It wasn't even a quarter of the way done yet, while the Central City Labs boasted about theirs reaching completion. Cisco Ramon never understood why S.T.A.R. Labs didn't just back out of the race. If they focused on something else, then they could be just as famous but for something different.

"Why do you think S.T.A.R. Labs is so stubborn, Dante?" Cisco had asked his older brother about the labs once, not fully able to understand politics and goals at just eight years old. "They could make cool gadgets using the research that C.C.L. got from the accelerator. Greg told me about it at school today. They don't _have_ to make an accelerator. Greg said so." Greg, a classmate of Cisco's at school, was the primary source of all information Cisco had on the scientific world. Which, since they barely understood what dating was or the significance of an experiment gone wrong, was not very much.

Dante had barely given his question a second thought (like usual) and just let out a scoff and shook his head. "I don't know, Francisco. Why would I know about all that science stuff. If you're so curious about it, why don't you ask that precious _Greg_ about it? He knows more about it than me."

The pout that quickly formed on Cisco's face nearly morphed into a tangible aura around him at the response. "But I wanna ask _you_ , Dante. You know everything!"

Dante laughed, shaking his head. "I don't know everything, _hermanito_. Just most of everything."

"So, nothing that has anything to do with science," Cisco giggled, leaning back against their couch. A rip in the back pushed uncomfortably into his arm and his lips pulled themselves into a frown. He had always hated that couch.

The younger boy's displeasure got the attention of his brother almost immediately. Dante leaned forward, giving his little brother a concerned look that always looked too serious no matter why he looked upset. "Hey, Francisco, are yo-"

Years later, Cisco still would not be able to clearly explain what happened next to anyone else. He had been sitting in his dimly lit living room with his big brother when it felt like something reached into his head and flipped a switch that he had not even known was there to do anything to. The room suddenly seemed to swim around him, the old grey walls wobbling under his gaze that was growing more and more panicked as time went on. A queasy feeling surged from his gut and the small boy had to clench his eyes closed to stop himself from spewing his lunch across the carpet.

"Francisco?" Dante's voice reached him through the walls of terror, but it was distorted like one would sound yelling through water or a wall. "Francisco, it's going to be okay. I'll get m-"

Suddenly, he wasn't in his house anymore. He was in a booth in a restaurant, though he was far taller than he remembered ever being. A beautiful blonde woman was sitting across from him, her slender hands interlocked with him. Cisco didn't know what to say or do and the woman was definitely not familiar to him. She seemed to know him, though. Her smile grew even warmer and she rubbed his hands. Cisco immediately tried to pull away but found that he had no control over this too-tall body that was holding hands with this weird woman.

"Hey, Felicity," 'Cisco' said softly, even though the little boy didn't try to speak at all. He couldn't control himself, though he wasn't even sure if this was him. He was smiling, Cisco could feel it. "We've been dating for a couple years now, right?"

"Yes Cisco," 'Felicity' said with a fond laugh, "we have. They've even been good years."

"Well, I've been thinking about what you said last night. Not about Barry- I mean, yes about Barry but I was also thinking about what you said before. How you wanted to get married to Barry before he died. I think we can dot hat. Not get you married to Barry. I would like that honor. I mean-"

Cisco internally cringed at the absolute mess of a proposal he was witnessing. _I am never, ever going to be that awkward,_ Cisco promised himself with a mental scoff. _Not that I wanna get married to a girl, anyway. But this is just painful._

The woman, however, didn't seem to share Cisco's opinion on the hot mess of a proposal. Her eyes lit up like a sunrise, as if she found his stumbling and tripping over his own words to be the most adorable thing in the universe. The leaned forward, her loose hair almost falling into the spaghetti that sat in front of them on the table. Cisco lifted his hands and pulled her hair back, much to the boy's internal protests at the situation. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the blonde woman was pulled into a kiss as a gold ring was slipped onto her finger. Cisco felt like gagging as the kiss went deeper, the couple's hands never releasing each other. 

 _Oh god, this is a public place,_ Cisco thought to himself as he fought the urge to retch.  _What the heck is this-_

Thankfully, as if some unseen god had heard his frantic pleas to be released from this situation, the restaurant and the couple melted away just as quickly as it had appeared. The house came back into focus and the child dimly realized that he was lying on the floor instead of sitting on the couch. Dante's hand was resting on his arm and there was a voice speaking, which was probably Dante as well. Relief flooded the young boy with the realization that what happened, whatever happened, was over. 

Cisco pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing as he hit his hand on the leg of the family piano. There was a loud rushing in the back of his head, like voices or a large crowd, but it was easier to ignore than everything early. "Hey Dante," the boy said slowly, resisting the urge to wince at how his voice wavered, "I just dreamed about the most disgusting thing ever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, chapter one is finally done! I had to rewrite half of it to meet my expectations. I love how Cisco refers to the kiss as the "most disgusting thing ever," and it's my favorite line so far. It am always amused how kids are kinda grossed out whenever couples kissed (I _never_ got over that), so I like putting it into stories. I do feel so bad about subjecting poor Cisco to this, though... 
> 
> Kind of.


	2. I Don't Think I'm The Only One In My Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the fifth version of this chapter that I've gone through. I have never written so much in one go as I did yesterday. I wrote about 1,000 words of this chapter four separate times before I could finally find a way to convey my ideas without Central City being renamed Angst City.  
> For the record, I'm still not happy with it. But I'm trying to like it.

Sitting alone in the hospital was boring. It had been boring the day before, and it had been boring last week. It was going to be boring the next day and next week wasn't looking too fun either. The room was wallpaperless and bleak, empty of children's drawings or anything interesting to look at. The nurses had flat-out forbidden Cisco from taking apart any of the machines in the room, even though he promised he could put them back together and make them better on top of that. For a genius eight-year-old whose passion is tinkering with electronics, it was hell on Earth. 

"I can't stay here, Dante," Cisco nearly begged. "It's been a week! They can't do this. It's so boring!" His whining drowned the sound in the back of his head, which he had neglected to mention to anyone just yet. It was a crowd of disconnected voices, which made the poor boy convinced he was going insane. But if he was going insane, he sure as heck wanted to be at home to enjoy his last few days of sanity playing video games with his brother.

Dante, bless his soul, was using all his strength to bite back a laugh at Cisco's desperate pleas. "They aren't  _imprisoning_ you, Francisco. You had a seizure in the middle of a conversation. Of course they'll keep you around to see what happened. I don't know how I didn't see this coming," he added with an angry groan. "I'm your bother, I'm supposed to protect you. You had never done this before, I had never thought-"

 _'I'm not going to build you a rocket launcher, Barry, I'm trying to finish the essay that will get me into college!'_ An unwelcome voice burst through from the rabble.  _'Mama will kill me if I don't get in, after all the fuss I made about it.'_

"Why would you need to go to college if you could just work at _Tío_ 's auto shop?" Cisco's response effectively cut off his rother, who had no context for the remark, and did not succeed in getting a response from the voice. none of the voices ever responded and none of them ever talked to him. He may not have had much experience with odd voices in crazy people's heads, but he didn't think that was the normal thing. 

"What? Francisco, what are you talking about?" Ah there it was. The too-concerned look that made it seem like Cisco's odd statement was equivalent to all the puppies in the world dying, or the world changing all at once. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Cisco stuttered out, forcing a smile on his face. "Yeah, Dante, I'm okay. The... seizure, it just scrambled things a little. You know how my mind wanders sometimes. Mama says I just do it out loud, now." His response sounded sharper than he meant to, like a stab instead of a tap.

Although the lie succeeded in distracting Dante from the odd words, it brought forth a whole new wave of guilt. "Oh, right. Sorry, i forgot. I didn't mean to sound mean, Francisco. I know that you're still a little messed up. We're going to get you home soon, okay? You know I didn't mean to be mean."

_'Why are you always so mean to me, Dante! You do everything in your power to drag me down! I can't even call me your brother!'_

As another voice cut into his mind, Cisco had to bite back a flinch. "No. No, Dante, it's okay. I'm not mad. I..." He trailed off, not sure what to say. "I just have a headache and the stuff the evil doctors gave me isn't doing anything to stop it. Can... Is it okay if I lie down now?"

At the guilt that ran rampant on Dante's face after those words, Cisco had the overwhelming urge to take them back. He wanted to apoligize, laugh it off, say anything that would make it better. Dante had always taken the world on his shoulders. That's what Mama said made him a good piano player. Now, Dante was taking Cisco's problems on his shoulders. But he didn't eve know what those problems were. 

"Of course, Francisco. I'll go tell mama that you want to rest now," Dante said softly. Guilt took over his voice and it almost broke. "I'll see you later on, okay? The doctors said that I could stay overnight, if you wanted me to."

Neither of them said a word as Dante turned his back and exited the room. The closing door sounded like judgement on Cisco's words, condemning him for lying and for hiding the crazy within his minda. All he could think about was how he didn't know how he was going to survive like this. At least he hadn't had another... Whatever that thing from back in his living room was. But one could happen at any time, he guessed. It hurt, knowing he lied to Dante. Dante would have known what to do, if he had said something.

 _'You should tell him,'_ a soft female voice said from the rabble. 

Cisco knew it had nothing to do with him, that whoever that woman was she wasn't talking to him. However, nothing that anyone had said in the past week had applied more to his situation than hers. Even if he was scared, he had to depend on his brother. He had to tell him. Dante would know how to fix this. He always knew how to fix things when they went bad.


	3. A Friend

Mornings were slow at the hospital, which meant that he could zone out and listen to the voices running rampant within his head without worry. The sound in the back of Cisco's head was loud and chaotic, reminding him of parades and town events where everyone would come together and talk all over one another. When he concentrated enough on it, he could make out a lot of different voices and could hear what they were saying. He'd figured that, if he was going crazy, then there was no harm in trying to figure out what the weird voices were trying to say. He was going off the deep end anyway, after all. 

_'Right there. Oh god, right there! Fu-'_

There was a creak, like a door opening, and Cisco was fairly certain that was just an echo from his mind as well. That assumption, now that he thought about it, was weird. He was being way too casual about the entire thing. In fact, he was taking it in stride now, not even questioning the fact that the sound of a door opening probably did not mean that the door was actually opening.

_'Oh god. Oh god_ ,' another voice cut in. _'He's dying. Oliver is dying. I didn't mean to do it! It was an accident! Oh no, nononono-'_

_'Ooohhh God,'_ yet another voice chimed in. The voices tended to say that a lot. _'Dad's gonna kill me! I'm so dead. So, so very dead-'_

On second thought, maybe listening to those voices wouldn't get him very far. They were all jumbled and out of context, like a bunch of machine parts that didn't all belong to the same thing. It was hard to figure out anything from bits and pieces. There was also the fact that some of those voices were rather disturbing.

_'I can't find my glasses... Did Clyde take them again?'_ A voice that Cisco hadn't heard before, low and smooth to the point where it was strangely soothing, rose up from the rabble to voice the mundane worry. As far as the kid was concerned, this was better than hearing people die or.... Well, let's just call it being "overly friendly".

"Cisco? Cisco! Are you okay? If you go into a seizure again, your brother really  _will_ kill me!" A worried voice cut into Cisco's thoughts, shaking him from his musings. That had been happening a lot recently, which was bad since he usually paid attention to everyone.

"What?" A turn to the left of his hospital bed revealed a worried-looking redhead who had partially risen out of the chair he was sitting in, though it was with the help of a crutch. "Greg? When did you get here?"

Greg was undoubtedly Cisco's best friend, as well as his source for everything that went on in the science world. Cisco had, admittedly, been worried when Greg had never shown up to visit him in the hospital. The redhead always seemed to show up whenever something bad happened and brightened up the place with his chatter. Dante hadn't known anything about what happened to Greg, which was also worrying. Rather belatedly, Cisco also noticed the crutches that Greg was holding and the cast around the taller boy's left leg.

"Cisco, I've been here for ten minutes! You've been saying 'uh-huh' to everything I've been saying! Were you even-"

"Greg, what happened to your leg?" Cisco belatedly thought about apologizing for interrupting, but decided against it. The overly guilty expression on the freckled boy's face could not have meant anything good. 

"Right... I forgot that I asked your parents not to tell you," Greg said with a wince. He played with the strings of his hoodie, which was bright blue and actually- he was fairly certain- was stolen from Cisco last time he came over. "Um... Did you hear what happened with Central City Labs?"

"No, why would I hear anything about the Labs here? Dante never tells me anything interesting about what's going on outside and Mama said that I shouldn't have a T.V. in my room. That, by the way, is very mean. I don't mean to fall asleep at odd hours in the morning when I'm watching television! It just happens. I can't get better at it if I don't practice turning it off at the right time. But  _nooooo_ , she can't just believe that I'll try to turn it off at the right time!" The mini-rant ended with the dark-haired boy giving a pout that would sway hearts and minds for years to come[1].

"Ve-" Greg can't even finish the sentence because of the giggles wracking his body. "That's a good- A good point, Cisco," the redhead finally makes out between bouts of laughter. "I forgot how.. Dramatic you can be sometimes."

"Forgot?" Cisco looks outright affronted, though amused, by the words. "We haven't talked in a week! You can't forget me yet! You have to wait a month first!" He takes a breath and calms down, bracing himself for the next part of the conversation. "But really, what happened?"

The giggles died as quickly as they came into the world, leaving an uncomfortable and glum expression on the usually cheerful face of Cisco's friend. "Central City Labs was working on their accelerator that night. It wasn't supposed to be turned on, not yet. That's what my dad said. He said that they weren't ready. But someone... Someone didn't want to wait, you know? They pulled the lever, to see if it works. It wasn't ready. It blew up. My dad... My dad was getting lunch and wasn't at the labs yet. He picked me up from home and we went to get Big Belly Burger. Next thing we knew, it was so bright. So bright and we didn't know why. Dad couldn't see for a little bit. We ran outside and we were going to the car. We were going to the car and I tripped. Then I heard a crack and my leg hurt a lot. I... I woke up in the hospital and your mom told me that you were in the hospital, too. You had a seizure. I didn't want you to worry, you know? I didn't think that's what you wanted to wake up to."

Cisco frowned at his friend, arms crossed tightly across his chest. "I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore." His voice was soft and weak, unlike the ferocious anger in his words. "I was wondering if... If you were even going to come by. Then you show up and you're hurt. Are you an idiot? Of course I wanted to know!" Tears pricked his eyes against his will. Dante always said he was a crybaby. "Don't you ever hide that from me, okay? I want to know!"

Greg nodded frantically, eyes wide. Cisco never yelled, especially not at his best friend. It was just not something he did. So to have him freak out like this probably freaked Greg out equally. He felt bad about that, in retrospect. 

"Yeah, Cisco, I won't do it again. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Greg. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay. Really." Greg gave him a comforting smile that was tainted by the pain in his leg. "It was mean of me, anyway."

"Pinkie promise?" Cisco was reminded of a six-year-old girl when he insisted on that, but he needed to be sure. "So I can hold you to it."

Greg reached out his pinkie, a smile on his face. "Pinkie promise." Their fingers connected to seal the promise. Cisco held on just a little longer than necessary before dropping it. 

"Thanks. Um... Are your mom and dad okay?"

"Uh-huh. Don't worry, we're all okay. Promise. Mum's a little scared, with everything going on lately, but we're all okay. But... You know what this means, right?" The redhead leaned forward in his chair, eyes bright. 

Cisco copied the action, resting his elbows on his knees. "Uhn-uh. What does it mean?" He felt like he should know this, but he couldn't place it right away. "Wait... It does mean that, doesn't it?"

"Yup!" Greg's smile was like the sun coming out from the clouds; he could always find happiness in the dreariest of circumstances. "We can still work at together at one of the labs when we're older! The race isn't over yet!"

* * *

 

 

This is unrelated to the story, but I had to share that this is a thing. And that I love that this is a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Although exactly zero of those hearts and minds would be his mother's.
> 
> ~BTW: Greg is very much my baby. Since Cisco hasn't mentioned any _friends_ from his childhood years, I had to make some up. Besides, relationships are bound to change throughout the universes. Don't worry, I'm not planning on letting him get anywhere near Gary-Stu level as a character.~


	4. An Odd Encounter In The Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a struggle for me. You have no idea how many ideas I burned through while working on this. I eventually had to bring in Snart and Rory because no chapter without them would flow well. 
> 
> This chapter also turned out to be over two thousand words! Wow. I was not expecting that, although I am glad I was able to get so much written. I think I like where the story has decided to go, although I had planned something different. 
> 
> I'm not sure how well this chapter turned out in terms of the story, but I'm proud of it in terms of not having seriously written anything in quite a while. Normally, I have given up on stories that become hard to write. However, this is a different sort of difficulty. It is more that I have _too many_ ideas, rather than not enough. This chapter would have been longer, admittedly, had I been granted more time to write.

The hospital room was silent in a tranquil sort of way, the early morning and beautiful sky stopping any sadness from infiltrating the little, cream-colored room. Cisco couldn't see the sky from his hospital room, but he could feel it in his bones. It was just before sunrise, if the clock by his bed was any indication. Cisco was usually not awake that early, but since he had he decided to take advantage of it and watch the sunrise. There wasn't a window in his room, but the cafeteria had a few that he could look out of. He would get into a lot of trouble if he were caught wandering the halls at such an unholy hour, but he was certain he could make it down to the cafeteria before anyone could catch him. That thought was what led him to walk down the corridor in his hospital gown that he hated, padding along in a pair of socks from the hospital staff. 

The boy took small steps down the corridor, eyes wide as he checked for anyone coming down the halls. There were many doors that led to hospital rooms in that hallway, something he had discovered in the first three days of his hospital stay. The doors flew past him as his tiptoed walk sped into a run, the paranoia that he would be caught out of his room gripping him with full force. The voices had quieted in his head, which only proved to increase his own anxiety. 

All of a sudden, Cisco felt himself skid to a stop in the middle of the hallway. One of the rooms, just a few feet away, had its door flung wide open. Muddy boot tracks led directly into the room. None of the  ~~prisoners~~ patients in this wing of the hospital wore actual shoes, especially not muddy ones. Either one of the other patients had sneaked out and then back in, or someone else was had sneaked into the hospital before the sun was even fully up in the sky. There was absolutely no reason that Cisco should go over and investigate. He should either go back to bed, where he was supposed to be in the first place, or hurry and go to the cafeteria like he had planned to in the first place. It would be reckless and irresponsible to go and check it out and he most certainly should not do it. 

"The muddy boot prints will give you away, Mick. Did you see the janitor's closet when you came in? We'll have to steal a mop to clean all of this up." A voice came out of the open room and it peaked Cisco's curiosity like nothing else. 

With a firm nod to himself, Cisco disregarded every sane thought that he had been using as an argument to stay away from the room in favor of the sweet relief found in sated curiosity. He took a step toward the door, making sure to do it slowly and not disturb the careful silence of the hallway. His hair hung in his face as he moved, having fallen out of its usual braid. It fell onto his nose, tickling it as he edged towards the door. The boy fought hard against the urge to sneeze as he looked into the room, fully expecting to see a bulky mass murderer wielding a hatchet over some defenseless damsel who lay in the bed. (Dante really did show him too many horror movies)

Instead of a scene that would make for a completely scarring movie opening, Cisco's eyes landed on a sight a bit more normal (and less terrifying). A man, likely in his early twenties, with broad shoulders and a muscled frame leaned against the back of the chair sitting next to the hospital bed. His chair faced the door, but the man's closed eyes stopped him from seeing the gawking boy leaning into the doorway. Another man sat on the hospital bed, with his back towards the door. He was hastily pulling a long-sleeved shirt over a back littered with scars and bruises, like he had been on the wrong end of bullies quite a few times in his life. 

 The man finished putting on the shirt, only to put a black sweatshirt over the top of the grey fabric. A thick black coat was thrown on the bed as well and the strange man looked like he was actually going to reach for it and put it on. Just the thought of it had Cisco sweating. It was in the middle of June, not the middle of January, and there was absolutely no reason why anyone should be dressing like they were about to walk straight into the face of a blizzard. 

The man finished pulling on the black sweatshirt,rolling his shoulders back. He grabbed the coat off the bed casually. He stood up, allowing himself to get used to being on his feet. Cisco fought hard against himself to keep from making a comment about the coat, even if just to fill the silence that was in his own mind. The voices hadn't said anything yet, nor had he had any unwelcome images (which were unfortunately becoming more and more common) and the silence was making him almost nauseous. Thankfully, he did not have to make any comment about heatstroke because the too-pale man did not put the coat on at all. Instead, he threw it directly on the face of the big man who still hadn't opened his eyes. 

"Wake up, Mick. We're leaving."

A giggle almost escaped Cisco's lips at the disgruntled noise that came from the big man, Mick. He pulled the brown coat off of his head, shooting the other man a dirty look. It reminded the boy a lot of Dante, who would always toss something at him to get his attention when they were younger. He had found it annoying for years, like that guy seemed to, but after a while it just became funny. It was one of 'those things' that brothers did. But those guys didn't look like brothers at all. 

"That's because we're not," the pale man who had thrown the jacket said. He had turned towards the doorway, eyebrows rising high on his head. "Who are you, kid?"

"Oh. Um.. I said that our loud?" The rather obvious remark fell from the kid's lips without thought, bringing a blush to his cheeks. "Uh. Sorry, for eavesdropping. Um, I wanted to watch the sunrise and then  I thought a serial killer had broken into the hospital. Because of the boot prints. Which would suck, 'cause I don't wanna die yet. Dante wouldn't be happy if I died by a serial killer. 'Cause he said I'd never meet one and then he'd be wrong."

"What," Mick said flatly. He didn't pronounce the 'h' in the word, so it sounded more like 'Wat' than 'What'. 

Meanwhile, the other guy seemed more amused than anything. He stepped around the bed, wincing ever so slightly as his left leg bumped against the frame. Cisco frowned at that, focusing on the left side immediately. The man didn't seem to notice (or if he did, he didn't mention) Cisco staring at his leg in hopes of finding out what happened to it. In face, he merely walked over to the near-trembling boy (this time because of the cold in the room, not fear) and knelt down in front of him. 

"What's your name, kid?" He said it surprisingly gently, unlike when he talked to Mick. Though he didn't talk meanly to Mick, either, but with a more commanding tone. Like Greg whenever Cisco was being an idiot. 

Cisco blinked at the question, momentarily forgetting how to speak. The man was unfairly pretty -Cisco didn't think 'pretty' was the normal term for a guy, but that's really what he was- and it only became more apparent now that his face was directly in front of Cisco's. Forcing himself to stop staring, he tried to think of an answer that wasn't a  _major lie_ but also didn't tell two complete strangers his name. "Horus?" It wasn't meant to come out like a question, but the word didn't give any fucks and decided that it would come out like a questioning squeak because it very well could. 

The man raised an eyebrow. "That's not your real name, is it?"

  
"Uh.. Uh-uhn." Cisco shook his head, glancing up at Mick who seemed either annoyed or impressed by the boy's responses, he couldn't exactly tell. "It's my chat name online. Dante said not to give my name to strangers."

"Smart guy," Mick remarked from his place by the wall. "Did he tell you not to spy on other people, too?"

"Hey! I said I was sorry," Cisco said indignantly, sticking out his chin. "Besides, you were the one sneaking into a hospital and Oh-God-o'clock, weren't you? If you didn't want to be listened to, you should have come here later like  _normal people_ and kept the door closed!"

Immediately after delivering the scolding words, Cisco froze in place. He didn't know where the words were even coming from. The last thing he wanted was to piss off these people, especially not Mick. He was rather intimidating, especially given the fact that he was like eight times the size of Cisco himself. He was being rather stupid, letting his mouth go like that. 

"Oh- Um, sorry, I didn't mean to-" He frantically tried to fix his wording, eyes wide. He tried to take a step back, only to have a comforting hand land on his shoulder. It was absolutely freezing, but he didn't have the heart to complain.

"Don't worry about it, kid. This whole thing  _was_ a little sloppy," the pale man said, with a glance to Mick. "It's a little late for watching the sunrise, don't you think? Why don't you get on back to bed, before someone gets worried about you."

Mick looked surprised at the words, but didn't say anything. Cisco was too stunned to say anything in response. He just nodded in acknowledgement, trying to hide his shivers. His trembling hands reached up to pull the hospital gown around himself, making the pale man's hand fall away. 

"Um, why are you guys leaving now anyway?" His curiosity wanted to get him killed, it seemed. Either that or he was destined to take the fall for some cat who had been lucky enough to survive with sated curiosity. "Don't you need to check out?"

"We were told we could leave early if we wanted," the pale man said carefully. "Things came up and I couldn't exactly leave last night, but they didn't mind if we left early this morning."

In hindsight, there was no way that Cisco should have believed that at all. However, that morning had been weird enough to start questioning everything that was said. He nodded again, throwing Mick and the other man a wave. He didn't really remember stepping out of the room, but he must have because suddenly he was in the hallway. He threw a glance back at the room and saw the pretty man and his friend watching him go.

"Um, try not to scare people next time. It's just a thought," Cisco suggested before he ran. He didn't run because he was scared, per say, but more like he felt like he was going to freeze into place if he didn't get moving right that moment. 

As he ran down the fall, Cisco thought he saw someone in one of the hallways branching off form the corridor. If he didn't know better, he would have thought he had seen curly red hair and a blue sweatshirt. But it was completely ridiculous to think that Greg was in the hospital. He had been discharged days and days ago (he had even remarked that it was odd that Cisco hadn't been) and had no reason to come back before visiting hours. 

What was odd, though, was that the voices came back just after he passes the strange figure he thought he had seen in the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I the only one who is severely bothered by the word 'sneaked'? It's kind of an irrational hatred (like my hatred of healers in videogames), but I just can't stand the word.


	5. Ignis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know, this fic is my baby and I'm not even quite sure why I'm so attached to this one and not the other fics I've written. Every new hit and kudos brings forth some new wave of pride as I gaze upon my creation. I love being able to write something just because I can and know that at least one person in this world will be reading it.  
> So, thank you for giving this story a chance. It means a lot to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is mentioned/explicit homophobia in one part of this chapter, but it's in a vision("vibe"), not something lil Cisco has to encounter directly. I don't even know how to tag characters/events that only show up in Cisco's visions. He does experience those events and meet those people, but not directly.  
> So far I haven't been tagging them, but....

_The outside of the hospital was lit up with the bright red hues of a roaring fire. The flames licked their way up the sides of buildings, which were already crumbling and broken like they never stood a chance, desperate to conquer more of their prey before they were forced to die or were lucky enough to move on to bigger targets. Children screamed out in pain like their hearts were being ripped out of their chests, fragile bodies falling to the ground for the fire to quickly consume. The plants that had been in the garden out front were withering and dying one after another, just poor victims that had been targeted for the sole purpose of making a point. Smoke rose though the air and clogged Cisco's lungs, forcing him to breathe it in and nothing else until the sky turned blurry and the sounds around him became distant and his hands became cold despite the fact that he knew that fire was licking up his legs and arms and they were being singed a charcoal black as he stood._

_"Help," he coughed weakly. He could feel blood on his lips as he swayed on his feet and his heart frantically pumped more to keep his systems running._

_He was on the ground, then. The sticks and stones that littered the lawn dug into his knees with a vengeance, but it was nearly impossible for him to feel them. From the left a large wind blew that only served to push the flames directly onto him as they changed direction. He could properly feel that, when the flames sneaked into his ears and burned away the insides until there was nothing left at all to burn. They crept into his nose to stop him from breathing even more, making sure that they -and their smoke- were the only things he could perceive._

**_He had always been the jealous type._ **

_Cisco paused for a moment, wondering who 'He' even was. These flames, this hospital, they were all meaningless to him. He knew nothing of why nor how they were their and seeking him out like a cat stalking their prey. He could barely even think on it any more, as the strength had left him fully and there was nothing left for him to move on with. His poor, broken body gave in and fell completely flat onto the ground as his lungs gasped for air that wouldn't come. The flames would not kill him fully, he somehow knew, just weaken him and cause him to suffer for as long as they possibly could._

**_He had always been one for vengeance._ **

_The flames retracted as if they had heard the thought on his lips and could no longer touch him in favor of bringing him their master. Heavy footsteps fell on the rubble around them, maneuvering the broken bricks and piles of ash and bodies as if he were made to tread them. Cisco welcomed the breaths of air he was being given -he thought 'given' like it was not his right to breathe without smoke clogging his lungs- and forced himself to relax against the unforgiving ground. Feeling was slowly returned to his burned, charred, limbs and he relished it even when it brought him nothing but pain. The footsteps drew even closer, the heralds of his doom as they were, until the boots that sent out those cries stopped just in front of the writhing figure._

_"I don't remember you being this weak when we last fought," a gruff voice commented lightly. Mockery and amusement were apparent in his voice and it only increased Cisco's humiliation of Him -who even was this man?- seeing him in this state. "But you were too busy threatening my family for me to really notice. Did you really think I'd let you get away with this?"_

_"Please, stop this," he gasped in pain. The flames were growing closer again, he could feel them. "I did not mean for your family to get hurt, honest! I was only-"_

_"You were only betraying me like I was nothing," the deep voice growled. "Now you can feel the same way."_

_Those words were the last thing he saw before his entire body burst into flames._

 

* * *

_He was now in a room instead of the outside of the hospital. It was a large, fancy room with silk drapes (because the owners were too rich to call them 'cirtains') and a plush carpet that was probably worth more than a thousand Cisco Ramons. A chandelier twinkled high above his head, with elegant curves and dangling circles that were embedded with what Cisco was willing to bet were real diamonds. A large dining table took up most of the room, its pearly white table cloth so laden with food that it was a miracle the yable didn't break under the strain._

_At the very head of the table sat a man. He was not very tall and he had a baby face that perfectly fixed with his condescending smirk to make someone who was increasingly infuriating to look at. His clothes were nice, too stiff, and Cisco knew for a fact the bespectacled man did not choose that navy blue suit nor did he want to be caught dead wearing it. His brown hair was slicked back with too much gel and a lot of hope, which Cisco had less of in both departments. A smirk had fallen on the man's face as he surveyed the scene, thouh it was only to cover his nervousness and anger over the entire situation. Cisco knew him too well for that, he felt._

_(Wait... Did he even know him at all?_ _)_

_"Hart, if you don't want them here then you can always tell them to butt out and never bother you again. You're in charge of the company now, right? They have no say over your life." His tone was soothing and meant o bring comfort, although he had known before he even said the words what the other's answer would be._

**_Hartley was always stubborn when it came to his parents. It's no surprise._ **

_(How did he know this? Did he know this man? He felt taller than usual. This wasn't right. But it must be right. This was where he belonged, right? Or was where he belonged the hospital the one he burned to death in front of. Nothing was making sense and it was making him nauseous.)_

_"I can't just tell them to go away, Cisquito," the too-slick, too-rich man (Hartley; his name was Hartley. Right?) said with stubbornness in his voice. "It would be letting them win. Letting them know that they have succeeded in making me a coward."_

_He laughed at that like it was endearing the way this man refused to back down whenever it came to his parents. "Okay, if you say so. I still say we should cancel this stupid dinner and binge watch Game of Thrones. That sounds a lot more fun, if you ask me."_

_"Of course that would be your idea of a fun evening," Hartley said with a fond snort. I don't know why I even bother being surprised._

_"I don't know," he said with a cheeky shrug. "You knew what you were getting into, otherwise you wouldn't have married me._

_He crossed the room in smooth, easy steps that took no time at all. Then their lips met, the other man tasting like nutmeg and wine he had sworn he wasn't going to drink before dinner but hadn't been able to resist. They went deeper and Cisco had to stop himself from cringing internally. This was... Nicer than when he kissed that girl in the restaurant. That girl was all energy and wild genius while Hartley was more refined and calculating in every move. It was nice, feeling like someone else was in control and no one else could judge them for it._

_They pulled away reluctantly as footsteps were heard down the hall. A voice, the butler's, was heard as he explained to whomever was with him about the changes to the house. Apprehension built inside of him as the footsteps drew closer and closer. It was almost soul-crushing the way all the happiness drained out of Hartley's face at the sounds. Even if Cisco's soul was intact after seeing such a look, his heart did not fare so well against the attack. It felt like his insides were imploding as he stood there in silence._

_Finally, the footsteps reached the dining room and a couple walked in. A snooty woman and her equally haughty husband strolled into the room like they owned it. They used to, he was fairly sure, but Hartley had kicked them out and cut ties with them years ago. The woman saw him and her eyes dropped to his ring finger. She glared at the ring like it personally offended her and she wished it burned his hand off by mysteriously bursting into flames._

_"Mother, Father," Hartley began. "You insisted on meeting my husband, so I've heeded your request. This is Cisco, my-_

_He never finished the sentence. There was a bullet-shaped hole in his forehead that shouldn't have been there. Not on that beautiful-yet-infuriating face that had kept him going for years and had never ever let him give up. The man, the bastard who had once dared to call himself Hartley's father, stood there with cold ice for eyes and merciless hatred for lips. The gun in his hand was still smoking from the gunshot that had ended Hartley's (his husband's) life._

_He was frozen. Ice had taken over his heart and had left nothing untouched. He was numb and he couldn't even feel a thing. He couldn't hear either, only being able to pick up the sound of the rushing blood in his ears. His hand were trembling, he was certain of it but he couldn't make them stop. He looked up at Osgood Rathaway's too-cold face and saw not even a sliver of remorse._

"As if we could possibly want to see what corrupted swine you brought into  ** _my home_** _, Hartley," Osgood said with a heartless sneer. "You're better off dead, where you cannot pollute this world any longer."_

_The man (who had just shot a guy like it was nothing and he'd have no repercussions, which was probably the scariest part of it all) turned towards Cisco. His eyes glittered like two pieces of cold ice. The gun was still raised, now pointed directly at him. He had no time to react, or even breathe, as the bullet hit him in the chest. It was an explosion of pain that located itself right in his ribcage; fireworks of agony that fizzled away along with his life._

_(Please make this stop. Make it stop, make itstop, MAKEITSTOP-))_

* * *

_This time, wherever he was, Cisco was outside. It was evening and frost dusted the limbs of the too-bare trees that lined the street. He didn't recognize the street, but at the same time he was certain he knew exactly where he was. It was an odd feeling, being somewhere you know but looking at it with new eyes. A cold wind blew through the area and shook the tree limbs and shutters all around him. The chill penetrated the small warmth of his finger-less gloves, making the very bones in his hands ache._

_"Those clothes don't look very warm. Don't you know it's winter?" There was a voice behind him, one that sounded eerily familiar but not familiar enough to warrant relaxation._

_Before Cisco himself even knew what had happened, he had turned around to face the speaker. A knife was in his hand and it was pressed firmly against the man's offending throat. He almost slashed it across the flesh and ended the man's life. However, one look into brown eyes that matched his own paused his action immediately. Shock seeped into his bones and he took a step back in surprise._

_"Dante? I thought I told you not to look for me."  
_

_The other man, who did look an awful lot like Dante, nodded in confirmation. He put his hands in the pockets of his ragged jeans as he thought of an answer. "I remember you telling me not to look for you. Reverb."_

_The name alone was enough for a pool of guilt to settle in his gut (but it wasn't him, even if it was. It didn't make sense. What-). "I deserve to be someone, Dante. I'm not going to be some sidekick and let the world walk over me. If you're here to stop me, I'll have to... Prevent you."_

_"You mean kill me." Surprisingly, his brother (his beautiful big brother) didn't even sound bothered as he voiced the statement. "Don't worry. I'm sick and tired of being trampled by our family. I know that you can be powerful. I've seen you. Do you remember that little scene at the bank?"_

_"You mean when I got rid of some of the scum that bullied me at school? Don't tell me it was a petty move, if that's what you wanted to say. That isn't even a fraction of my abilities. I just needed to learn control. Overwhelming power is nothing without control, after all.' (It was wrong. Using those powers like this, it was wrong. Did he- Did he hurt people? He didn't want-)_

_"Cisco, I thought that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."_

_He immediately stilled, feeling his eyes go wide. "What?"_

_"You have the right idea. You can push other people, idiots who know nothing of power, down and step on them to get to the top. I want to help you out. You'll need a partner, if you want to establish yourself as a power around here. There's only one problem with my plan, though."_

_"You mean your lack of powers," Cisco (Reverb?) said knowingly. "Don't worry, I'll think of something. Before that, though, I need to get rid of the eavesdropper in my mind. That's the trouble with these powers. Bugs sneak in."_

_Then the street was gone and a waterfall of voices and emotions carried Cisco away into an abyss. He couldn't fight it, wasn't even sure if he would if he could. His entire being hurt and that flow of thoughts was the only thing making it go away. Maybe... Maybe he could stay there forever._

 

* * *

Cisco snapped awake only to find that he was sitting up and in a room that was definitely not his hospital room. There was a keyboard in the corner of the room, a sleek new one that couldn't have been there long. Sheet music was spread across the desk and on the floor of the room in an unorganized-yet-organized way that Cisco immediately recognized. His eyes widened in understanding, then clouded again in confusion. He felt cold from the sweat and he couldn't stop himself from shivering. 

"When did I get into Dante's room?" The words fell out of his mouth before he even realized they were said. They sounded so odd in the quiet room and he had to resist the urge to cover his mouth. 

"Well, actually, you didn't. At least, this isn't your brother's room right now. I have no idea if you are actually in Dante's room right now. Because if you are, I can't give you a time frame."

Startled, Cisco whipped towards the chair to face the speaker. He seemed to be doing stuff like that a lot lately. There was a man on the chair, sitting cross-legged on the too-large striped chair that Dante had gotten for his birthday. He seemed completely at home there, not even bothering to look confused as he chewed on a piece of red licorice. He looked down and caught Cisco staring at him. Putting on a big grin, he waved. 

"Hey, kid. What's your name."

"Um- Ho- Uh... Ci- Cisco Ramon?"

The look the older man gave Cisco was absolutely transparent with its exasperation. "No shit, Sherlock. I meant your _other_ name."

"What."

"You know- Oh wait, you're a little young. You might not know. Is there a nickname or code name some people call you that isn't Cisco or some variant?"

"Uh... I told the not-ax-murderers at the hospital to call me Horus. 'Cuz it's my chat name online. Does... That count?"

"I-" The strange man seemed absolutely befuddled at the response. "Yes, that counts. If you want it to? Now... Do you know what you did?"

"Uh... No, I don't. But... I think it was a good thing? 'Cuz at least I'm not dying or feeling weird here. Can I just.. Stay here?" Cisco laughed nervously as he asked, as if he was expecting to get into trouble for voicing the thought. 

"Hey," the older guy said with a reassuring tone. "My name's Enigma. I'm guessing you were thrown into this without any warning, right?"

"Uh-huh." He gave a small nod to acknowledge Enigma's question. "I mean... I think so, since I dunno what 'this' even is." He paused for a moment, trying to calm himself down before he spoke again. "All- All I know is that one day I saw something... Weird. I was playing with Dante and then I was in a restaurant kissing a girl but it wasn't me and I din't get it- Then next thing I know there's voices in my head an'... An' I dunno who to tell. Then I was walking back to my hospital room and stuff... Happened. I don't know what's going on." Tears were pricking at his eyes, then, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledged them. "I wish I could go home."

"Hey, Horus," Enigma said gently. He seemed completely taken aback by the rant-slash-breakdown he had suddenly been a witness to. "Do you have a S.T.A.R. Labs in your universe?"

Cisco looked at the older man blankly, unsure how to answer. "My... Universe? Are you an alien? Cuz you're really attractive for an alien."

"No," Enigma said as he bit back a laugh. "I m not an alien. Have you heard of 'parallel universes'?"

"Like... Places where everything is just like here, but a little different?"

"Yeah, like that. Well, there a lot of them. And Cisco Ramon has, you have, a doppleganger in nearly every universe there is to exist. All of those versions of you end up being incredibly powerful and strong. It's what you do with those powers that make the difference, though."

"Oh." Cisco was trying to pay attention, he really was, but the edges of the room were fading and he was feeling sick to his stomach. "Um, I don't feel good-"

"Yeah, that happens. I think we're disconnecting now, so be prepared to end up back in your reality. Just.. Get to S.T.A.R. Labs, okay? Harrison Wells can explain everything to you when you get there."

The weird feeling of falling through the floor and into a waterfall was back again and it seemed to be everything Cisco could do to keep from throwing up. He started to plummet down into the center of the earth. At least that was what it felt like. Snapshots of things and people flashed by as he fell, everything surrounded by a backdrop of electric blue. Soon it all started to focus on a place that felt very familiar and he reached towards that place, hoping with every fiber in his being to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse the shitty end, this chapter killed me as I wrote it.


	6. Shlimazl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY UP  
> IT'S SHORT, BUT IT'S UP  
> OH MY GOD  
> THIS WAS A B I T C H TO WRITE
> 
> I am so sorry for the wait.   
> Just so you guys know, this story will probably update slowly from noe on. Hopefully not this slow, though.

There were no lights on when Cisco opened his eyes, expecting to be in the hospital- possibly still on the floor where he had collapsed. Wherever he was, however, was definitely the hospital. It was pitch black, so he couldn't even see vague shapes out in the darkness. The air was cold and moist, clinging to his clammy, chilled skin like a toddler to its mother. Rivulets of water, either from sweat or from the moisture in the air, ran down his arms which he quickly found out were cuffed to what felt like a table.

Suddenly, the silence and darkness was interrupted by a cruel beam of light and an ear-piercing screech. A big, heavy metal door screeched open, scraping stubbornly along the cement floor with the glorious sound of concrete against metal. Immediately, repulsed by the noise that cut an ache into his head and the light that burned his eyes, Cisco flinched and slammed his eyes back shut. Whatever was coming in, he had no desire to face it. Nothing good could ever come from being cuffed to a table in a pitch black basement, all alone (although, admittedly, waking up  _not_ alone would likely be even worse).

"Ah, I see you're awake," said the silhouette from the door. The voice was deep, definitely male, and far too smug for comfort. "You were putting up quite a fight, you know. Those two men you had protecting you weren't planning on going down easy, either."

"Protecting me? Who were they?" The boy struggled at his bonds, hissing as metal dug into the skin of his wrists and held him in place. "Are they okay? what happened to them? What are you going to do to me? Who are you? Where's my brother?" The words tumbled out of him, unbidden, as soon as they popped into his head. Panic raced into his voice, ignoring any sort of intention to keep calm. 

The smug voice started to laugh, as if _amused_ by Cisco's reaction to his words. "Quite the chatterbox, aren't you? We can fix that, I'm sure. After we get all the information we need, of course." The light, casual tone of the man's response did absolutely nothing to quell the child's panic. However, he doubted it was even supposed to.

"What do you mean? What information? I don't know anything!"

"Now, now, don't give me that," the man chided. He shook his head scoldingly, as if a parent scolding his own child. "We know you've seen things when you've gone under. Scary things, even. Scary enough to make you scream and scream until we had to find a way to shut you up. You're a seer, of some sort. We just want to know what you've seen."

"I saw things, but they won't be useful to you," Cisco spat, hurriedly burying his pungent fear with sparking anger. "Besides, if if they were I wouldn't tell you."

The man frowned, shaking his head. "Now, that's no good. You'll be singing a different tune when the General gets to you. But for now..." A slender hand reached for a switch, slamming it down with no small amount of glee. 

Lightning coursed down Cisco's veins, pure agony surfacing wherever the electricity ran. A loud, ugly scream ripped from the boy's throat until he could scream no more. Black spots swam in Cisco's vision, begging him to just give in. He hung on, for a moment. But that moment proved far too much to bear and the trembling boy felt himself start to fall into unconsciousness. 

 _'Push,'_ a voice whispered within his mind. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he felt his powers -or something- press against something solid and he pushed with all the force his mind could offer. The man screamed, something cracked, and Cisco soon knew nothing but the sound and smell of his own vomit that surfaced with the end of the electricity.

_'This isn't over.'_


End file.
